Richard has been contacted by many constituents who have recounted their experiences of the delays caused on the A421 due to planned works over the weekend of the 5th and 6th July.
Richard Fuller MP said:
These delays were totally unacceptable and I felt it was important to follow up, on constituents' behalf, with those most directly responsible for the causes of the disruption and for the failure to mitigate the consequences.
I have had extensive conversations with National Highways personnel and been in touch with the Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police.
Although I do not have any new and profound insights from these interactions, I do think I have a better understanding of the causes and have made some recommendations for improvement.
Firstly, it is obvious to all including National Highways, that the delays caused were completely unacceptable. In my view this was an enormous mistake in what has otherwise been a well-managed construction project, but I have left National Highways in no doubt that we must never see a repeat of the mayhem, and associated risks, that we witnessed over last weekend.
Secondly, the consequences for people travelling could have been considerably worse. I have been told of people being passed across highway barriers, of desperate searches for a place to relieve oneself, of the impact on families with children or elderly relatives in their cars or who were transporting animals. Many have expressed their concern that the impact would have been considerably worse if this incident had occurred the previous weekend when temperatures were much higher.
National Highways, both in their public communication and privately have accepted complete responsibility. This was of course the right thing to do, but too often such apologies appear superficial. My sense is that, in this case, the apology is heartfelt, but I do expect National Highways to make meaningful changes to procedures as a consequence of this event.
National Highways advised me that the root cause of the problem was the failure to amend the phasing of traffic lights at Black Cat roundabout. According to National Highways, traffic travelling north on the A1 did not experience long delays, but that traffic built up on the A421 because there was insufficient time with a green light signal for traffic to pass around the roundabout to travel on the diversion further down the southbound carriageway of the A1.
National Highways have assured me that in future there will be procedures in place to assess the potential impact of closures on traffic light phasing.
My conversation with National Highways then turned to the reasons why no action was taken when it became obvious that there was a significant back up on the A421. This is best answered by an internal investigation by National Highways, but to me it appears there was no individual assigned with the responsibility to take such action, or that any such person determined not to take any action. Neither of these is acceptable.
I have asked National Highways to investigate why no action was taken to mitigate the problem on the A421, whether there was a properly assigned person, whether that person was properly briefed, and whether that person had the authority necessary to take the actions required.
I am also concerned that there was insufficient preparatory work done by National Highways with Bedfordshire Police. It is not clear what communication there was by personnel of National Highways and their contractors on site with Bedfordshire Police and at what time. Nor is it clear that there was a clear plan of action to mitigate the problem established by National Highways/Bedfordshire Police on Saturday afternoon when delays were at their six hour peak.Whilst I might have hoped that Bedfordshire Police would have been more pro-active on the day, it does seem that the absence of appropriate authority/senior personnel from National Highways on site on the Saturday was a major reason for the lack of effective coordination with Bedfordshire Police.
I have asked National Highways to review procedures for advising Bedfordshire Police of major closures, the impacts that could have been foreseen, and for both organisations to share contact details of senior staff on site.
Cars continued to be drawn onto the A421 even as the backlog reached its peak of six hours. I discussed the limited signage with National Highways. There is a strong case for seeking to avoid unnecessary diversions through village roads, but National Highways have agreed to review their approach to signage ahead of any future closures.
I have also asked National Highways to review the impact that the mobile signal “dead zone” around Black Cat roundabout may have had on updates to sat nav apps including their own.
Once I have received the responses from National Highways, I will be writing to the Roads Minister to provide my overview and to convey the concerns raised by many motorists that day. As I wrote at the start, the events last weekend marred what has otherwise been a well managed project by National Highways. I expect them to respond effectively to the unacceptable mess that occurred on the weekend of 5th and 6th July and to ensure they return to their high standards in the event of any and all future road closures.
